The Company notes the press article in the Evening Standard on 1 May 2015 and the quotes attributed to the Company's Chairman in relation to the estimated number of barrels of oil. The Company refers to its announcements of 9 and 15 April 2015 for its stated position on the Horse Hill-1 Well.

Specifically the Company repeats it has not undertaken work outside of its licence areas sufficient to comment on the possible Oil in Place in either the approximate 1,100 square miles of the relevant Jurassic section of the Weald Basin or the whole of the Weald Basin.

"We said we believed there were 158 million barrels per square mile and we own 55 square miles. We think we can recover 3%-15% — that's 100 billion barrels," said Lenigas to the Evening Standard. "All we said was that the oil we found did not constitute either 'contingent or prospective resources or reserves'. It was paragraph 11 of what we'd said originally, and we made it paragraph three. We moved a paragraph, we didn't't move our own position."

When asked specifically if he thinks there is 100 billion barrels of oil underneath the ground near Gatwick, the Evening Standard reported:

"Yes, how do we put it, subject to, subject to…"

He grabs a piece of paper. "Look. It's like a big sponge of oil," he says, sketching away. "There's a layer here which is like a big sponge. We drilled down and then we drilled a 700-metre horizontal well. And it's like a sponge."

Will he frack? "Will I f***. We could get even more out if we fracked but we've no need to frack."

Lenigas launches into a description of the geology of the area, the Weald Basin, and how it's ripe for oil. His enthusiasm and confidence appear totally genuine — if it's an act, its is a brilliant one.

"I wish people would realise that we've found something very significant," he says — well, roars actually, banging the table.